Queen's Quest
by akmarceau
Summary: Amelie is the founder of Morganville, but why? What lead her to found the town? As she tells her backstory to Oliver, what grudges and feuds are remembered?
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone! I've been a huge fan of these books for a really long time and I thought I'd try my hand at Amelie's backstory ish…

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Morganville Vampires, sadly :(

**Warning: **Child death at the end in italics…

Queen's Quest

Amelie sat still as a statue at her desk. Her hands were clasped together over the newest manilla folder. She watched as Oliver impatiently tapped his fingers on his thigh. She watched as his guards and her guards looked between one another, not quite knowing what to do. She watched as Oliver watched her; a goddess in a pale white suit with her hair pilled immaculately on her head.

"Leave us," Amelie spoke to the guards. They dutifully nodded and left the room.

Amelie and Oliver continued their stares, neither wanting to give in or advert their eyes.

"You know," Oliver said breaking the silence. "I've always wondered how you do your hair so. Vampires don't show in mirrors."

"I always assumed that was why you were so unshaven," Amelie replied, her head tilted a fraction to the right in amusement.

Oliver lips curled up gently, "What's in the folder?"

Life or death decisions have been made in the manilla folders Amelie keeps. Power struggles, agreements, and death certificates have all been signed by the Queen in a manilla folder.

Amelie pretended to ignore his question. She opened the folder and flipped through the contents. Two pages caught Oliver's eye; one being a death certificate, the other being a birth certificate.

They were yellowed and old. The handwriting was faint and slanted.

"You know, long ago, before I was a vampire, I was a queen? I ruled Asia, Australia, and Europe. My troops were marching into North America, I was following them. I sat high on a horse. Purple was the its color, as gold was mine. I watched as three vampires destroyed three thousand men in mere hours. When my troops laid lifeless on the ground, the three they turned on me. They faced me, blood of my men fresh on their faces. One killed the horse. One held me down. One bit me and turned me."

Oliver listened interested in what she had to say.

"Bishop was the one that turned me, the other vampire killed the horse, Myrnin held me down. They left me after I was turned to feast on my own troops. They killed two things that day. My soul, and my child."

"You had a child?"

"A long time ago I did."

-0-0-

Amelie stood in a pale blue silk nightie, and a white shimmering robe. She clutched the metal railing tightly, staring off into the night. She took a deep breath to try and clear her mind.

"Need I recite Shakespeare?" Oliver whispered, looking up at his Queen on the balcony.

"I think I've had enough of Shakespeare. I was, after all, his Juliet," Amelie whispered back a small smile gracing her lips.

Oliver scuffed, "Your age is showing."

Amelie looked back to the night sky. Oliver jumped up to join her.

"Your child, were you attached?"

"I was, desperately attached. I was human then."

"What was it like?"

This human bondage is what they longed for. Something that made them _feel_. It had been too many years of getting close to some human just to watch them shrivel and die. What they needed was companionship. The founding of Morganville was for companionship with others who wouldn't die. The humans were for amusement and for that feeling that seemed inexistent.

"The beginning I didn't want it. It made me feel horrible. Everything from emptying my stomach in the garden to migraines all day. Later on, when I started to show, I was excited. I was making another human, my own human. Bishop was furious when he saw. His unmarried daughter with child. Then as it grew, and it moved within me, I was… ecstatic. I stayed up some nights, telling stories to the child, feeling the child turn and move within me, and just planning outfits to hide the child from enemies. Over all though, I loved the child like any mother should," Amelie whispered the last sentence, her pale grey eyes never leaving the night.

"Claire-" Oliver started.

"Claire is… something else. She's truly amazing. She has saved my life and our kind more times than any other human."

"She makes you feel something…" Oliver trailed off.

"She's like a daughter to me, in a way. As much as a daughter or child I will ever have," Amelie said sadly. Oliver kept his eyes on her. "I bid you good night," Amelie whispered, turning away from Oliver and heading back into her room.

"'Night," Oliver whispered.

He stared after her as she slipped into bed and turned off her light. Oliver jumped down from the balcony, and ran off into the night.

-0-0

_The wail of a newborn child screeched through the air. The Queen screamed in agony too. Bishop grabbed the child from the other vampire._

_"No," Amelie whispered, tears in her eyes as her child who was still attached to her, was held in the hands of her merciless father._

_"So small aren't they?" Bishop whispered, running a long fingernail gently over the child's cheek. "And all their life is here at the neck," Bishop whispered, his eye brows were raised, his eyes flashed red. Too tired after a long and excruciating childbirth, Amelie could only watch in horror._

_The wails that had ended the silence in the room, ceased with a small snap._

_Tears fell from Amelie's eyes as her dead child was cut from her womb and handed to her. Mrynin handed her a towel, and with tired, shaky arms, Amelie wrapped her dead child._

_Bishop and the other vampire left, smiles gracing their faces._

_Myrnin gently wiped the tears from Amelie's cheek, "What is her name?"_

_"Claire," Amelie sniffled. She kissed Claire's forehead. "Her name is claire."_

Please review! I might continue this, but I'm not too sure…


	2. Claire

I'm writing this second chapter much quicker than any other chapter I have ever written because the fabulous **Amy-vampire1** has gotten my mind spinning!

Thank you for your support!

**Warning:** mild mentions of passionate encounters…

Enjoy!

* * *

The only sound in the room was the rustling of papers.

Amelie signed one piece, passing it to her right in silence for Oliver to sign it.

Both continued this pattern until the silence was bad enough to be palpable.

"Leave us," Oliver said gruffly to the guards. They nodded politely and left Amelie's office. They worked in silence again; Oliver thought of how to phrase his question. "Claire- that name, why did you choose it for your daughter?"

"It is a French name; means bright and clear. I wanted my daughter to have a bright life, and a clear conscious. My father took that from her," Amelie looked over the paper she was currently signing. "Myrnin, he stayed behind. He gave me my dead child to hold and wiped the tears from my eyes. He asked me her name."

Oliver scuffed. He rolled his eyes once and read over the paper Amelie had just read, saying, "If that monster ever did one thing good in his life it might've been that. You need to initial here." Oliver handed back the paper, pointing to the blank.

"Thank you," Amelie replied.

"Who was the child's father, if you don't mind me asking?"

-0-0-

_Amelie moaned into the night air. Her hair, wet with sweat, clung to her forehead. _

_"__Yessss," the man seethed into her ear; gently nipping at her earlobe. _

_"__Ooh!" Amelie whispered in a rush, her nails digging into the man's back. Her hips arched, her body was presses against his. The man smiled and bit her neck sending her over the edge._

-0-0-

Amelie sat in the library. She flipped through an old parchment book. Drawings of all her suitors and family members filled each page. Amelie elegantly sipped her blood from a dark crystal wine glass. She read through her notes on each suitor. The curvy, slanted writing barely even being recognized as her own.

Back when she had time and was locked in her room, avoiding her hungry father's grasp, she drew. Each and ever family member first, then all her suitors. She traced the face of one man, sketched roughly in charcoal. He was still a mystery to her, but she knew she loved him.

He gave her a daughter.

He gave her a '_good time'_.

He gave her a reason to live.

Lines were blurred from the past tears shed over the lover. Lines blurred now as tears fell.

"Who was he?" Oliver asked, cocking his head to the side to look better over her shoulder.

Amelie set the wine glass down, and closed the book quickly. Wiping the remnants of tears from her eyes. "Just someone from my past," Amelie whispered.

Oliver walked around the chair she was currently curled up in to stand in front of her.

"There was someone before Sam, wasn't there?"

"There were many before Sam. I am, after all, one of the oldest vampires still alive."

"After you were turned, did you ever try to… kill yourself?" Oliver asked, slowly sinking into the chair next to her.

"I did. I had many things to die for; my child was dead, I was eating my people, and my father was prying on my weakness. I almost got away with it a couple times, my father wouldn't allow me to do so though. Myrnin was actually my suicide aid," Amelie said more matter-of-fact like than with sadness.

Oliver nodded slowly, staring over the towers and towers of books that filled the room.

"Have you ever read all of these?"

"Oh yes. The ones on the shelves are the ones I have read. That pile over there," Amelie said pointing to the three piles of five books in front of her, "are the ones that I have yet to read. Again, I have been around for many more human lifetimes than one would think." Amelie chuckled slightly, taking a sip from the wine glass.

"Claire," Oliver whispered, as if he was testing the name. "That is a beautiful name, your majesty."

-0-0-

_The race was on, man against the rising sun. The man ran with inhuman speed through the gates of Amelie's town and into the desert. _

_"__My dear, the systems are almost ready," Myrnin whispered. He was in one of the most extravagant outfits she had yet to see him in. A hot pick 'I heart Texas' tee-shirt and traffic orange shorts burned her eyes. _

_Amelie stood on her balcony which was still being built, her dark trench coat blocking her skin from the warm rays of the ring sun. _

_"__We need that gate to be up and working now. I can't bare to watch another run from the town without them being stopped. Minds need to be erased. Myrnin, we are losing control of an unbuilt town."_

_"__Yes, your majesty. It's just- I just need- I need more help. There are a lot of things that need to be built and tested. I need smart people, and I need them now," Myrnin demanded. _

_Amelie let out a long sigh, "Rome wasn't built in a day." She looked over the land again. Bricks were being mortared to the formation of walls._

_"__I take it he visited then," Myrnin asked, knowing that the tiresome, vulnerable, and dangerously unpredictable Amelie was always visible at her mysterious lover's visits. Always at nights, and always with the same word to let her know it was him, yet he knew she doesn't _know _the man. _

_"__It is none of your business," Amelie snapped, her red eyes turned on him. She was hungry. The town's building was ceasing due to the sun. Young vampires were assigned the harder jobs, they were stronger then, but their death toll was taking a number on production and population. _

_It was then that Amelie declared it a chess match against an unknown opponent. _

_The young vampires were pawns._

_She was a queen._

_Myrnin was the most guarded king. _

_His brain was working centuries ahead and millenniums behind his time. He truly was a piece to save and protect. _

-0-0-

"Her name was Claire," Oliver thought to himself as he paced the floor of his bedroom.

Maybe it was time Oliver made a move on the chess board they had going.

Maybe it was time that Amelie's lover made another appearance. Both could surely use it at her confessions.

* * *

Please review!


	3. Flashback

So sorry it's taken me forever to update, but I promise it's coming along.

:*)

Enjoy!

Amelie laid very uncomfortably in her bed. She fiddled relentlessly with the top edge of her bedspread; her guards seemed agitated and extremely on guard. She tossed and turned in her bed with beads if swear at her hairline. She hadn't felt this sick since the Draug. Finally, she gave up and beckoned a guard to call Oliver then leave her.

-0-0-

Oliver knocked tentatively on the door at first. When no answer came, he knocked again; this time with more persistently. Again, he was met with no response. He ordered his guards to enter as he followed swiftly behind. They rumbled their "clear" as they each scanned a room. All eyes fell to the Queen who was covered in a sheet of sweat, thrashing wildly under the covers.

Oliver dismissed his guards who seemed skeptical but said nothing. Oliver watched a second longer and then cautiously approached Amelie's bedside. Even in her state, Amelie could feel the bed dip but in that moment, lost in her own mind, she thought it was a canyon. Carefully, Oliver leaned over the bed, closer to Amelie. A hand landed on top of her pale blonde hair; his thumb caresses the crown of her head. Oliver leans closer and places a long but chaste kiss to Amelie's temple.

-0-0-

Myrnin watched curiously as Amelie dragged a stick at vampire speed through the sand of the Texas desert.

"And you brought me along to watch you play in an oversized sandbox?" My ronin shouted over to Amelie who was a good twenty miles from where she started. He watched as she turned left in the sand and ran another twenty miles. She shot him a dirty look over her shoulder but didn't stop. She finished off her drawing by jamming the stick into the sand. There was a twenty-by-twenty sized square drawn in the sand.

"Myrnin, I have an idea."

...**...**...

It had been a good fifteen months since the town was started. Walls were starting up, a couple toe houses were almost complete, and Founder's Square was getting it's last touches done. The roads were marked, lots were sold to men and women looking for a new start. Horses brought materials to the town for the workers.

Amelie walked in her long, full purple gown; her sun-blocking black trench coat had been donned on for such walk.

She surveyed the work, greeted some new- comers, and made her way to Myrnin's lab.

"... To the south and easy of Cape Cod was not available. Today August 7,1907 southwest winds 5 to 10 knots. Waves 1 foot or less..."

Amelie shook her head as she was greeted with the nautical radio for the area Myrnin had been calling metropolitan. This radio had been Myrnin's newest creation. The date was decades ahead of their time and she figured that was still a work in progress.

"Myrnin," Amelie called out as she walked around the lab fiddling with test tubes and burners.

"I'll be right over to greet you."

Amelie gave an uncommitted him back as she sorted through his mail. Most was old and yellowed; many were unopened.

Amelie opened one and scanned it.

"I think we've been making great progress. The town sure is coming along great," Myrnin stated.

Amelie hummed again, finishing the letter written to Myrnin she opened.

It was signed "With love, Ada."

She heard Myrnin enter the room, and swiftly she started rummaging around trying to hide her snooping.

"I just need the rest of your plans, founder."

Amelie turned to face him, her hands clasped in front of herself.

"I'll have someone send them over. I thank you for everything you've done this far," Amelie praised as she inclined her head politely. Myrnin responded with a dramatic bow.

-0-0-

Amelie woke in Oliver's arms, cradled too is chest like a small, helpless child.

"Let. Go. Of. Me." Amelie hissed as she squirmed from his embrace and rolled to a defensive stand still. "What are you doing here?"

Oliver didn't answer, instead he questioned, "How long have you been ill?"

"Don't test me," Amelie growled, her eyes flashed red. "What are you doing Here?"

Oliver stood, ignoring her question.

"You should visit Myrnin, have him draw some blood and do whatever that madman does to figure out your illness."

"I'm not sick."

"What's your excuse for earlier then?"

"Womanly problems," Amelie stated casually with with a shrug. Oliver knew she was lying. With vampire speed, Oliver crossed the Romans sank a sharpened fingernail into her forearm.

Before she could react, Oliver was gone; slinking into the night with a finger if her blood.

-0-0-

"Here," Oliver said thrusting his bloodied finger into Myrnin's face. Myrnin scrunched his nose and carefully walked a half circle around the blood. Oliver rolled his eyes as Myrnin dipped the top of his pinky into the pool of blood that was collecting int the hand cupped under the bloodied finger.

Myrnin sniffed it. Rotated it one hundred and eighty degrees to his right. Flicked it with his thumb. Then put a part of it in his mouth.

"It's not yours," Myrnin said almost sadly. Oliver smirked at that. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Put it in one of your tubes and tell me what's wrong with it," Oliver stated.

Myrnin grabbed and empty test tube and scraped the blood from Oliver's finger.

"I'll get back to you," Myrnin said. "Oh, who's blood is this?"

Oliver hesitated then said, "Amelie's."

Okay, well I hope you enjoyed and I'm sorry for the cliff hanger!

Please review :)


	4. A Diagnosis

Thank you everyone for all the reviews! I'm sorry but I haven't gotten to finishing the plot line for this story, so until that is done bare with me on this and through my many spelling errors :*)

* * *

Enjoy!

Myrnin had called Oliver back late at night stating with urgency that he had results. Oliver dressed and thought on giving the madman a harsh reprimand, but since he was doing such a favor, Oliver decided against it.

Oliver was barely able to mutter a polite welcome before a hand grasped his forearm and he was dragged into the lab. Myrnin snapped goggles over his eyes and lit a blue flame. He placed the flame under a spiral nozzle tube of what seemingly looked to be water.

Oliver with Myrnin as puffs of gas filtered up the spiral, through more glass pipes and then finally spurted out as pink and blue clouds. Myrnin turned on a fan. The clouds circled the room and sounds of children laughing filled the room.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Oliver could hear as he was able to sort out sounds. He could hear laughter of two adults filter through the clouds.

Oliver knew what this meant; the clouds, the sounds, but he had to ask.

"What- What does this mean?"

"What doesn't it mean?" Myrnin retorted.

Oliver threw him a look, "What does this mean?"

"She's having a child."

-0-0-

_A deadly silence filled the tent._

_"__We can't advance," a man muttered as he looked at the diagrams the scouts had brought back. "They defeated how many men?"_

_"__Ten thousand, General."_

_"__Shit. We're fucked."_

_Amelie could hear the man curse almost silently; vampire hearing. _

_She slammed her hand on the throne, "We must find means to destroy them."_

_"__On what grounds?" The man mumbled._

_Amelie rose slowly from her chair, radiating all the power she had, "I condemn the three, including my own father with high treason."_

-0-0-

"Don't say anything, Oliver. If she wants you to know, then she shall tell you," Myrnin said, "I gather she told you of dear little Claire that barely breathed?"

"Yes," Oliver said sadly.

"Then you should know it changed something in her."

"Such as?"

"Her power and mood. Of course, that is expected but she changed. She was more on edge, more protective of her people. Most notable was her determination of destruction. It scared off many enemies and most of the people," Myrnin recounted

Oliver nodded, "I was there for a little, her general. She doesn't remember but it was years and years ago."

"Oh, you underestimate her; she remembers," Myrnin muttered.

Oliver smirked at that. He thanked Myrnin for doing him this favor and asked that the results and the rest mot be shared with anyone.

To that Myrnin responded, "What test?"

Oliver left Myrnin's lab in less of the rush he arrived in, but had much more to think about. His guards stood with the door open to his car. Oliver declined the ride and announced he would walk. When the guards made a move to follow he said he would go alone and met them back and his townhouse.

The guards had been with him for a while and he had gotten used to them and their silent protests, but as of lately, the silent protest were gone. It was as if they knew not to get into it and leave it be, which Oliver thought to be a good thing; last thing he wanted was meddling.

Oliver clasped his hands behind his back and started on his walk.

-0-0-

Amelie had retired to bed early, she wasn't feeling well. Deep down she knew what it was, almost unconsciously so. She wasn't human anymore, which could be a curse and a blessing depending on how she felt.

Now it was a curse.

She denied that she knew she knew by listing all the things that could go wrong.

_Death. Disfigured child. The child's death. Permanent internal injuries. Death. Death. Death. Death. Death. _

It wasn't something that could be embraced with her hear for sure. _Then again,_ her rightful mind mumbled, _you could very so be wrong. _

There was no need to get her hopes up and her mind worrying, Amelie concluded. _I'll visit Myrnin tomorrow, he'll know._

A little voice nagged at her thoughts. She rolled to her side and drew her knees in.

_What if I'm right? What will become of me- us- then?_

She would also have Myrnin look for someone.

-0-0-

_"__He watched with unseeing eyes. He heard with ringing ears. He talked with unmoving tongues. He was mine and I was his. He made me forget and I made him forgive. The two of us- the ruthful pair. He and I could live together, forever, but he was a runner and I was stationary. Building a dream for the world but none for myself. They called the town selfish. They called the town mean. I call then town my own. I call the town a dream. He visited at night, with the moon his light and recited Shakespeare and Caesar sometimes Cicero to the animals of darkness. He knew to be one of them- an animal of the night- but claimed he to be different. Though different he wasn't. He left no calling card as it was to be called and fled before the crack of dawn. I watched him leave once, watched as he scaled down the walls, his cape billowing at his waist. I called him _Dracula_ the next visit. He was gone for twice as long after that. Three times that when I asked for a name. He feared I was getting attached, I fear he was right by that point. To me he was a faceless super human, to him I was a weak and fragile woman. He told me those exact words once and I proved to him I was no such thing. It took much persuading and a lot of teasing, but in begging for me, he agreed. _

_I made him beg."_

-0-0-

Oliver sat in one of the mahogany chairs in her office. His fingers tapped to the beat of an old march. He let her study him with those enticing grey eyes.

"Leave us," she whispered hoarsely to the guards. Oliver watched as she watched the guards obey. There was an uncomfortable pause and Oliver's tapping was coming to an end.

"I always knew you were near," Amelie whimpered, staring at him.

* * *

Please review again! This is one of the smaller fandoms I write in but the best with reviews :*)


	5. Chapter 5

Hi everyone! So I'm back, but before I post the next chapter, I thought everyone should hear some reasoning here (granted I'm only a freshman in high school so forgive my little knowledge of biology, but I think what I know makes sense):

It has been said that vampires can't have babies because they are dead and certain function don't work (if you kind of get that drift). Male Vampires don't necessarily have this problem because they tend to have a Dhampir (half human, half vampire offspring).

Now, I'm not trying to re-write ancient stories, but I believe they can.

I don't believe vampires are dead preset because they need to gain that "vamp speed" somehow. Every story I've read mentions a vampire moving with _inhuman speed._ With this knowledge, I go on to tie in what I've been learning in biology class which is GLYCOLYSIS. Glycolysis is where the mitochondria produces ATP (adenine triphosphate) which is sort of energy that powers muscles. The reasoning I have is simple:

In order for vampires to have their super human speed, they need ATP to move.

ATP is produced by taking in oxygen (but since vampires don't breath my other theory is that they absorb it in a form of chemiosmosis where higher concentrations of chemicals more to a lower concentration). Now that they have oxygen from that chemiosmosis, they're cells therefore speed up the production of ATP through glycolysis. Thence fore producing more energy for muscles to use creating inhuman speed that every sort of vampire has.

With this being said, glycolysis needs other vital organ to power, and those organs need others, making the body of a vampire still in use via organs. They might not breathe or have beating hearts that are detectable, but their organs are still in working order so babies are possible.

How is the babe birthed? I would believe any medical way found in the centuries past or present.

Vampires may not be "alive" per say but I believe my hypothesis is something that can be worked on, and this is what the story will use for now!

**Summary:** Vampires have working organelles, cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems. Whether you believe this makes a vampire alive or not is your choice!

~Amelia


	6. Childbirth

So sorry I disappeared! I'm back and read to attack :*)

WITH my laptop and not my phone so say goodbye to all those spelling errors!

**Please make sure you have read my Hypothesis of Vampires before reading this chapter because it'll all make sense. **

Enjoy!

_"__I had learned long ago that Oliver was first, last, and always a warrior."_

-Bitter Blood; Prologue

"I always knew you were near," Amelie whimpered looking at him.

"Begging doesn't bemuse of you, My Liege," Oliver said, leaning back in his chair. Amelie's hand instinctively made it's way to cover her stomach. Oliver's eyebrows rose quickly and Amelie watched as his whole demeanor changed. Gone was his agitated look. Gone was the evil smug. Gone was the fire in his eyes.

Gone was the warrior.

"I-" Oliver started, his eyes downcast. "I'm not who you think. I wish I was, but I'm not."

Amelie, with some resistance, removed her hand from her flat stomach underneath the silk suit of the day.

"Oh," she whispered, her eyes too were downcast as she mulled over his response. "I'm sorry."

Oliver stood with the ease of centuries worth of practice and took the hand that was covering her stomach in his. He place a gently kiss to the top of it looking deeply into her eyes— wishing she got what he was trying his hardest to say. He wouldn't call himself a romantic, nor would anyone of this century, but the feelings he had for Amelie _made_ him a romantic. She brought out the human behind the warrior, and he was still trying to figure out if that was good.

-0-0-

The jasmine scented garden was a small enclosure, but with the amount of colorful flowers, the space seemed to never end. Amelie let a small smile grace her lips as she gently tosses velvet rose petals into the fountain. She heard light footsteps on the walkway.

"_We know what we are, but know not what we may be_," Oliver whispered into the night, halting on the other side of the fountain. Oliver watched Amelie from the distance. Her head tilted ever so slightly, just like a ballerina.

"Shakespeare," Amelie stated, her smile staying. "He was a brilliant man." She cupped the petals of the rose in her hand and sprinkled them over the water. Oliver's fingers traced the damp marble as he walked towards Amelie. Amelie stood slowly.

"You might not want me to know-"

Amelie put an open palm on his chest and gently pushed him back. "You know as little and as much as I do. Do not presume to know me better than myself."

-0-0-

"I'll show you what I showed Oliver," Myrnin said. And with the same theatrics, the noises, the clouds, a little child called out, "Mommy! Mommy!"

Amelie's hands fluttered restlessly; one covered her stomach the other her mouth as her brain reeled. All the thoughts of the night before flooded back to her. Amelie spun on her heels and _ran_ from Myrnin's lab.

-0-0-

Oliver slowly made his way into Amelie's room. He observed the delicate trim and lace and mirrors in the room.

"_And letters. So many handwritten letters that seven ironbound chests couldn't contain them all. One or two, I thought, might've come from my own pen. They would not have been love poems. Likely they had been threats._"

-Bitter Blood; Chapter 5, Oliver

Oliver made his way to her bed, and slowly, tentatively almost, he sat on the edge and rested a hand on her head. He watched her in peaceful slumber. In a moment of weakness, Oliver found his free hand resting just above her stomach. His hand cautiously made it's way down and splayed out over her abdomen. Amelie's hand came to rest on top of his but she didn't wake. And he didn't move. Time flew.

Oliver grew weary. He tried to pull his hand away, but her even in her sleep Amelie had an iron grip. He gently rested his head on the pillow next to hers. He would sleep soundly tonight.

-0-0-

Amelie woke with a smile on her face. She stretched like a cat, her arms over her head and her toes curled. She twisted her back.

A hand tightened around her waist.

Amelie's eyes shot open. She didn't want to struggle in worry of harming the life inside herself. She straightened her back, her body went limp, the arm tightened.

Oddly, became homely.

When Amelie woke again, the arm was gone.

-0-0-

When Oliver moved on the nice and cozy bed, and another moved with him. His eyes opened; an arm involuntarily tightening around the waist of the other. Soft white hair tickled his nose, and lavender filled his senses. Oliver relaxed, but his arm didn't. His thumb was drawing small circles on her stomach, and voluntary or not, her back pushed farther against his chest as murmurs escaped her soft pink lips.

_I should go,_ Oliver thought, his lady circles stopping in their course. _In just a few seconds…_

Oliver moved with human speed. He untangled himself from her and made his way from the bed and into the night.

Amelie watched as he jumped from her balcony and ran into the night, a smile toying at her lips. He might not be her secret admirer, but he was her secret something, she just didn't know exactly.

-0-0-

Oliver called on Amelie around noon. She hadn't been into the office, according to Bizzie, and not many have seen her around town. Her guards we're a tad resistant on letting him in, but let him in nonetheless.

Amelie had spent the day in her library. Oliver found her curled in a worn leather chair in front of a low burning fire. The lights were dim as the row and rows of books Oliver had observed previously were uneven. Piles were towered around Amelie and looking over the loose and frayed bindings Oliver found one thing in common: childbirth.

Please review! They make my day :)


	7. Art

I've spent the day re-reading all the book marked Amelie and Oliver scenes I have… this is going to be interesting… but it won't get any more supernatural than it is.

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There was no ocean in Morganville to sit on the beach and watch waves roll in and out. There was no high-end theater to take a date to see a film. There was no peace that ever lasted in the town because pacification was worse than the chaos.

There was a Queen though; a lovely royal Queen. She was icy, cold, ruthless. She was also patient, caring, and equal. She has many skills that helped her obtained her position, and she also had a lot of charm.

At this moment, Oliver, the Queen's second in command, could not remember any of those skills nor charms.

Amelie, the Queen, had called a meeting to be held at the Town Square so she could give a speech involving new law changes for equality.

Oliver rolled is eyes in exasperation as her voice carried through the wind to her subject's ears.

At this moment, Amelie was behind a thick wooden podium that had the Founder's emblem on the front. It was old and a bit tattered, but it still glinted in the sun. She was wearing a pale pink pantsuit, sporting the beginning bump of her pregnancy.

_I guess, _Oliver thought, _I can think of one charm._

The pure happy radiance that was flowing from her had to be the cause of the being forming inside her, and Oliver found it absolutely attractive. He was happy for her. Curious he may be of the child's father, but nevertheless happy.

That had a settling arrangement going on where he was able to see her in private to keep an eye on her health. She was starting to trust him more, open up to him just a little.

Oliver might not know nearly equal to Amelie, but he knew enough to see that this was going to end badly for all.

-0-0-

Her pale fingers drummed on the edge of the podium like a metronome would for a musician. She was still standing there, in the middle of Founder's Square, hands braced on the podium, long after she had finished her address. The humans were starting to have a sway in this town, and equality was starting to almost be palpable.

Amelie smiled as she felt a flutter in her abdomen. She bowed her head as she turned to face the Town Hall at the end of the Square. She nodded to her bodyguards as she made her way back to her office. Amelie's palms were unconsciously holding her protruding belly.

She kicked her heels off upon sitting in her office chair and rubbed her feet. She leaned back with a sigh, her toes barely brushing the floor. Amelie had unbuttoned her silk suit jacket to be able to firmly place her hands on her stomach.

For the past twelve weeks she had enjoyed the luxury of never feeling alone. She was living for this child, even if in the end it killed her.

Myrnin has been looking at her like a science experiment, curious to know every little detail. She thinks he had ever started her pregnancy book for her.

"May I come in?" Oliver asked as he peered through the crack of the big wooden doors to Amelie's office.

"Of course," she said with a genuine smile. She started to slip her heels back on but Oliver spoke.

"Don't get put back together on my account."

Amelia smiled and leaned back into her chair. Oliver took a seat in the one across from her desk and crossed his legs. "How are you feeling?"

Amelie rolled her eyes, and her smiled stayed, "If you keep asking me this…"

Oliver smiled too, glad to see her good mood was keeping. Amelie was staring blankly over his right shoulder. She seemed lost in thought.

"You are taking care of yourself though?"

Amelie nodded, turning her attention back to Oliver. "Yes. Dr. Goldman has been as awestruck by this as we all are. He says he can't be certain wether it will be born vampire or human so for now he has me drinking twice the amount of blood and eating many human foods that I haven't had in ages." She soothingly ran a had over her stomach. It was still too early for there to be any real kicks, but Amelie swore the flutters she felt were the beginnings.

"Can I…?" Oliver asked pointing to her stomach. Amelie hesitated a moment before nodding. Oliver walked around her desk and gently knelt by her side. His hand tentatively reached out to rest on her abdomen.

He could feel no movement below his palm, but he did feel the round firmness her flat stomach had taken on. Oliver was truly speechless. He let his thumb start to lightly brush at the silk material of her blouse. Amelie took this moment to study him. He seemed calm in his tie-dyed Common Grounds shirt and jeans that had seen better days. His salt and pepper hair was pulled back into a loose pony tail at the base of his neck. There was a determined but safe look in his eyes as he stared at her growing child. Amelie thought she could almost see the smile pulling at his lips.

"You will tell me of any changes," Oliver said more than asked as he looked up at her. There was a strange easiness in their intimate moment, one they both would treasure for centuries to come.

"As you wish," Amelie said lightly as she forced herself not to shiver pleasantly under his gaze. She didn't know how much longer they had stayed like this, but she held on to every second.

-0-0-

With the walls of the town being finished off, Amelie could only smile. Her town was paying off. Humans and vampires have been living in close quarters for a few weeks now and not many complaints have arisen. It's almost as if it didn't matter. In a way they were all the same: all wanting to live. Except most had heartbeats, and the others needed heartbeats. She had formed many houses with her own brandish and hoped to see them occupied soon. It was all she could have ever wanted. But after this, if there is an after, she feared she wouldn't have the will or determination to try again. She could only hope that Morganville worked a first time.

-0-0-

Amelie stood on her balcony in her night dress, brushing out her pale locks as the stars slowly started to appear.

"Need I recite Shakespeare?" Oliver asked from below. Amelie smiled to herself and shifted a little to give Oliver more room to jump up next to her.

They stood in companionable silence, watching the stars, listening to the strokes of Amelie's brush through her hair.

"I've been thinking," Amelie started, breaking the silence as she set her brush down on then chaise behind her. "That I shouldn't be seen with a child. Enemies could see it as my weakness— the humans could exploit this. Only you, Myrnin, and Dr. Goldman know of my pregnancy and I would like to keep it at that. At any rate, Myrnin is too insane and preoccupied with studies to stay focused on me. Dr. Goldman is bound by Hippocrates himself to do no harm and to also tell no soul about patients conditions. And you. You I put my faith in to tell no one." _I believe I've just handed him the dagger to put in my back,_ Amelie thought as she tightened her grip on the iron railing.

Oliver nodded slowly, sneaking a glance in her direction. Amelie rocked back on her heels as a little breeze swept through the night.

"I have thought to give Claire the child in the end. She is about on the same track as I and could easily pass having twins."

"You won't raise the child?"

Amelie shook her head sadly, "If this were a different time, or a different place the whole scenario would be different. After little Claire… I do not really know how to explain it other than a shift in me. I see I was never- _am _never and _will _never- be fit in the role of a mother." She paused a moment before continuing. "Samuel would have made a great father a second time around."

Oliver didn't say anything, her just inclined his head slightly.

"I suppose it is too late for… other options," Amelie said.

_Abortion,_ Oliver thought. "You enjoy this too much." Amelie smiled at that. She moved her hairbrush down the chaise as she sat down and swung her legs up elegantly. She twisted onto her back and rest her hands just under her belly. Her movements tugged her nightgown firmly across her torso — like an artist tightening the clamps to his canvas. Oliver sat near Amelie's feet as he continued to stare at the peaceful sky.

"Do you wish for a different place often?" Oliver asked, turning his gaze back to her. He watched her thumbs stroking the nightgown soothingly as she thought.

"I suppose. Maybe a beach area where the waves would never falter to kiss the shoreline. Or a jungle where all animals would go through the circle of life with no laws. Possibly even a farmland where cattle would roam and plants would grow by the fields." Amelie held his gaze before asking, "Do you?"

Oliver opened his mouth to start something, but he closed it. He thought for a moment before saying, "I would have liked a palace that overlooked rolling green hills and acres of farmland."

"A palace? All for just yourself?"

"No," Oliver said, "I would have shared it with a wife and our dozen kids. The children would grow and marry but live with us."

Amelie had a faint smile at her lips, "I never knew you could be so sentimental."

"I am not sentimental. Just old and tired of outliving people. After a while it just seems a bit repetitive, does it not?"

Amelie hummed in agreement. She closed her eyes briefly and sighed. Oliver noted the very tired look in her eye. Her porcelain skin wouldn't show the bags of sleepless nights, but the grey, not so human eyes, would.

"I'll take my leave, my Liege," Oliver said, starting to stand. Amelie shook her head.

"I won't sleep. I can't anymore. I worry too much now," Amelie stated.

"You must try, it's good for the child and for your own health," Oliver reasoned.

Amelie closed her eyes again, "I'll do my best." Oliver focused on the moon. Had this been another place, another time, he might be howling on the ledge of mountain somewhere with shaggy hair and four paws.

He chuckled to himself silently and turned to share with Amelie his thoughts. He dared not speak though, seeing as she was finally resting peacefully. Her thumbs had stopped brushing her stomach and her head was tilted to rest comfortably on her shoulder. Her long thin neck was exposed and under the moonlight Oliver could make out very faded silver prong marks. He figured it was where Bishop had bitten her all those lifetimes ago before he had killed Amelie's child.

Oliver swore to himself nothing would happen to this child of hers.

He patted her shins lightly as he stood slowly, trying his best not to disturb her.

Although weird, his gesture was meant to simply display the words he couldn't say.

He cared more than he thought was possibly after all these years. But he supposes he always knew he would.

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